Theses and Dissertations (Linguistics and Modern Languages)http://hdl.handle.net/10500/2877
Tue, 31 Mar 2015 22:33:51 GMT2015-03-31T22:33:51ZLanguage maintenance and shift in the Greek community in Johannesburghttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/18407
Language maintenance and shift in the Greek community in Johannesburg
McDuling, Allistair James
This thesis explores the phenomenon of language shift and maintenance in the Greek community of Johannesburg, which is the largest Greek community in South Africa. The main aim of the study is to provide an account of the factors which assist in maintaining the Greek language which is under pressure from English, the dominant official language in the country. This study draws on the theoretical and methodological frameworks established in the many studies conducted on the Greek communities in the USA and Australia.
The Greek community has played a significant role in assisting to shape the development of South Africa. Up until the 1980s, they were subject to discrimination from the host society; consequently, many immigrants lived together in certain suburbs and founded their own churches, clubs and schools. These factors contributed greatly to the retention of their language and culture. Since the late 1980s, the discriminatory attitude of the host society toward the immigrant communities has decreased notably, and subsequently, there has been an increased integration and assimilation into the host society. The process of assimilation has resulted, inter alia, in an increased use of English, the dominant language of the host society, consequently the retention of the mother tongue has declined.
A number of factors were identified as playing an important role in the maintenance of Greek: education, religion, family, language loyalty and socio-cultural activities; and, to a lesser extent, media and overseas visits. Education has played a key role in maintaining the language, in particular through the establishment of Greek day and afternoon schools. Despite a preference for bilingual church services, the Greek Orthodox Church continues to play a vital role in the maintenance of Greek. The family, loyalty towards the language and culture and a notable pride in being Greek, and participation in socio-cultural activities contribute significantly to the maintenance of the Greek language. Despite a marked shift towards English in the younger generation, the future of Greek in South Africa may be characterized by relatively stable bilingualism, provided that current trends continue.; Η παροφςα μελζτθ πραγματεφεται το φαινόμενο τθσ αλλαγισ και διατιρθςθσ τθσ ελλθνικισ γλϊςςασ ςτθν ελλθνικι κοινότθτα του Γιοχάνεςμπουργκ, θ οποία αποτελεί τθν μεγαλφτερθ κοινότθτα ςτο Γιοχάνεςμπουργκ. Ο κφριοσ ςκοπόσ τθσ διατριβισ, είναι να παρουςιάςει τουσ παράγοντεσ που ςυμβάλλουν ςτθ διατιρθςθ τθσ ελλθνικισ γλϊςςασ, θ οποία καταπιζηεται γλωςςικά από τθν Αγγλικι, τθν κυρίαρχθ και επίςθμθ γλϊςςα τθσ χϊρασ. Η μελζτθ αυτι αντλεί τουσ κεωρθτικοφσ και μεκοδολογικοφσ τθσ άξονεσ από τισ διάφορεσ μελζτεσ που ωσ αντικείμενό τουσ ζχουν τθν μελζτθ των ελλθνικϊν κοινοτιτων ςτισ Ηνωμζνεσ Πολιτείεσ και ςτθν Αυςτραλία.
Η Ελλθνικι κοινότθτα ζχει παίξει ςθμαντικό υποβοθκθτικό ρόλο ςτθν πορεία τθσ εξζλιξθσ τθσ Νότιασ Αφρικισ. Μζχρι το 1980 ιταν αντικείμενο φυλετικισ διάκριςθσ από τθ χϊρα υποδοχισ με αποτζλεςμα πολλοί μετανάςτεσ να ηουν ομαδικά ςε ςυγκεκριμζνεσ περιοχζσ, ιδρφοντασ τισ δικζσ τουσ εκκλθςίεσ, ςυλλόγουσ και ςχολεία. Οι προαναφερόμενοι παράγοντεσ ςυνζβαλαν αιςκθτά ςτθ διατιρθςθ τθσ γλϊςςασ και του ελλθνικοφ πολιτιςμοφ. Από τα τζλθ του 1980, θ πολιτικι διακρίςεων λόγω φυλετικισ καταγωγισ από τθ χϊρα υποδοχισ προσ τισ μεταναςτευτικζσ ομάδεσ ζχει μειωκεί αιςκθτά ενϊ μετζπειτα παρατθρείται μια αυξθμζνθ ενςωμάτωςθ και αφομοίωςθ ςτθν χϊρα-οικοδεςπότθσ. Η διαδικαςία ενςωμάτωςθσ ςυντζλεςε, inter alia, ςτθν αφξθςθ τθσ χριςθσ τθσ αγγλικισ γλϊςςασ, τθν κυρίαρχθ γλϊςςα τθσ χϊρασ υποδοχισ με αποτζλεςμα να μειϊνεται θ διατιρθςθ τθσ μθτρικισ γλϊςςασ.
Αναγνωρίςτθκε ζνασ αρικμόσ παραγόντων με ςθμαντικό ρόλο ωσ προσ τθ διατιρθςθ τθσ ελλθνικισ γλϊςςασ: θ παιδεία, θ κρθςκεία, θ οικογζνεια, θ αφοςίωςθ ςτθ γλϊςςα και οι κοινωνικό-πολιτιςμικζσ δραςτθριότθτεσ ενϊ ςε μικρότερο ποςοςτό, τα μαηικά μζςα και οι διεκνείσ επιςκζψεισ. Η εκπαίδευςθ ζχει παίξει ςθμαντικό ρόλο ςτθ διατιρθςθ τθσ γλϊςςασ ιδιαίτερα μζςω τθσ ίδρυςθσ ελλθνικϊν θμεριςιων και απογευματινϊν ςχολείων. Η Ελλθνικι Ορκόδοξθ Εκκλθςία ςυνεχίηει να παίηει ουςιϊδθ ρόλο ςτθ διατιρθςθ τθσ γλϊςςασ παρότι υπάρχει μια προτίμθςθ για τισ δίγλωςςεσ εκκλθςιαςτικζσ λειτουργίεσ. Η οικογζνεια, θ αφοςίωςθ ςτθν γλϊςςα και ςτον πολιτιςμό, θ εμφανισ υπερθφάνεια ωσ προσ τθν ελλθνικι ταυτότθτα και θ ςυμμετοχι ςε κοινωνικό-πολιτιςμικζσ δραςτθριότθτεσ επίςθσ ςυμβάλλουν αιςκθτά ςτθ διατιρθςθ τθσ ελλθνικισ γλϊςςασ. Παρόλο το φαινόμενο τθσ γλωςςικισ αλλαγισ προσ τθν αγγλικι γλϊςςα από τθ νεότερθ γενεά, το μζλλον τθσ ελλθνικισ ςτθ Νότια Αφρικι μπορεί να χαρακτθριςτεί από μια ςτακερι διγλωςςία, υπό τθν προχπόκεςθ ότι κα ςυνεχιςτοφν οι τρζχουςεσ τάςεισ.
Summaries in English and Greek; Keywords in English and Greek
Sat, 01 Feb 2014 00:00:00 GMThttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/184072014-02-01T00:00:00ZSiberia revealed through the travel narrative; a Russian, American and British perspectivehttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/18322
Siberia revealed through the travel narrative; a Russian, American and British perspective
Van Zyl, Estelle
This study examines how travelogues by the Russian author Anton Chekhov, an American, George Kennan and a British citizen, Harry de Windt, contributed towards establishing the image of Siberia towards the end of the 19th century, juxtaposing their individual views against the commonly perceived view of the region at the time.
In examining the texts, a literary analysis is merged with elements of other approaches, through a strong thematic focus, centring on the cultural and ideological assumptions implied in the texts.
The findings reveal that both native inhabitants and foreigners are capable of expressing a justifiable opinion on a locality, resulting in different versions of what is observed, from divergent points of view. Although the three writers in this study appear to support a negative view of Siberia, closer investigation show evidence of optimism about the eventual destiny of a region in a stage of transition.
Thu, 05 Mar 2015 00:00:00 GMThttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/183222015-03-05T00:00:00ZLexical levels and formulaic language : an exploration of undergraduate students' vocabulary and written production of delexical multiword unitshttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/18245
Lexical levels and formulaic language : an exploration of undergraduate students' vocabulary and written production of delexical multiword units
Scheepers, Ruth Angela
This study investigates undergraduate students’ vocabulary size, and their use of formulaic language. Using the Vocabulary Levels Test (Laufer and Nation 1995), it measures the vocabulary size of native and non-native speakers of English and explores relationships between this and course of study, gender, age and home language, and their academic performance. A corpus linguistic approach is then applied to compare student writers’ uses of three high-frequency verbs (have, make and take) relative to expert writers. Multiword units (MWUs) featuring these verbs are identified and analysed, focusing on delexical MWUs as one very specific aspect of depth of vocabulary knowledge. Student and expert use of these MWUs is compared. Grammatically and semantically deviant MWUs are also analysed. Finally, relationships between the size and depth of students’ vocabulary knowledge, and between the latter and academic performance, are explored.
Findings reveal that Literature students had larger vocabularies than Law students, females knew more words than males, and older students knew more than younger ones. Importantly, results indicated a relationship between vocabulary size and academic performance. Literature students produced more correct MWUs and fewer errors than Law students. Correlations suggest that the smaller students’ vocabulary, the poorer the depth of their vocabulary is likely to be. Although no robust relationship between vocabulary depth and academic performance emerged, there was evidence of an indirect link between academic performance and correct use of MWUs.
In bringing together traditional methods of measuring vocabulary size with an investigation of depth of vocabulary knowledge using corpus analysis methods, this study provides further evidence of the importance of vocabulary knowledge to academic performance. It contributes to debates on the value of a sound knowledge of high-frequency vocabulary and a developing knowledge of at least 5000 words to academic performance, and the analysis and quantification of errors in MWUs adds to our understanding of novice writers’ difficulties with these combinations. The study also explores new ways of investigating relationships between size and depth of vocabulary knowledge, and between depth of vocabulary knowledge and academic performance.
Sat, 01 Nov 2014 00:00:00 GMThttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/182452014-11-01T00:00:00ZLanguage shift and maintenance in the Portuguese community of Johannesburghttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/18190
Language shift and maintenance in the Portuguese community of Johannesburg
McDuling, Allistair James
The aim of the study is to provide an account of the present state of Portuguese in the Johannesburg Portuguese community, and to identify factors influencing the maintenance of, and shift from the mother tongue.
South African society necessitates a knowledge and daily use of English, and sometimes Afrikaans. Literacy and proficiency in the Portuguese mother tongue is therefore rapidly decreasing, especially amongst the third generation. Despite this decline, certain factors play a role in maintaining Portuguese. The most important factors in the maintenance of the mother tongue are education, cultural activities, contact with Portugal, parental influence and positive attitudes. If measures are not taken, and an awareness created within the community of the need to create a situation of stable bilingualism, the Portuguese language will continue to be eroded.; 0 objectivo desta tese e analisar o nivel actual da lingua portuguesa, na comunidade Portuguesa em Joanesburgo, e identificar os factores que influenciam a manutenc;ao e ou o afastamento da lingua materna. A sociedade sul-africana necessita de urn conhecimento diario da lingua inglesa e, par vezes da lingua afrikaans. Por conseguinte, a capacidade de ler e escrever fluentemente na lingua portuguesa esta rapidamente a desaparecer, especialmente na 3a gerac;ao. Apesar deste declinio, existem ainda determinados factores que contribuem para a sobrevivencia da lingua portuguesa na comunidade. Os factores mais importantes sao: a educac;ao, as actividades culturais, o contacto com Portugal, a influencia familiar - atitudes positivas tomadas pela propria comunidade. Se nao forem criadas medidas pelos portugueses, que garantam a consciencializac; ao da lingua materna e urn determinado bilinguismo, a lingua portuguesa acasani par desaparecer na Africa do Sul.
Thu, 01 Jun 1995 00:00:00 GMThttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/181901995-06-01T00:00:00Z